No. 8: T. Boone Pickens

Donor’s background: Mr. Pickens founded Mesa Petroleum, an oil company, and BP Capital, an energy-investment firm, both in Dallas.

Mr. Pickens, 82, pledged $100-million to Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, to endow scholarships that will be awarded based on academic merit and to provide financial aid for students who otherwise could not afford to attend. The institution will receive the money upon Mr. Pickens’s death.

A 1951 graduate of the university, Mr. Pickens has made numerous other donations to Oklahoma State. Counting this pledge, he has committed close to $500-million to the institution over his lifetime.

In addition to his pledge to Oklahoma State in 2010, Mr. Pickens gave a total of $1,046,512 to 30 human-service, medical, public-affairs, and other groups throughout the country.